Easy Sticky Toffee Pudding Recipe

Sticky toffee pudding cake is super moist, full of sweet diced dates, smothered in a luxurious, buttery toffee sauce, with or without chopped pecans or walnuts, and drizzled with a little whipping cream or ice cream, if desired.

Decide whether you want to make an entire cake or individual servings or bites. Know that no matter what it will be almost impossible to stop at just one piece.

You can serve it with the toffee sauce soaking into that mouthwatering cake or add some whipped cream which makes a fantastic dessert instantly something even more incredible.

This dessert is simply mouthwatering and unforgettable!

Best Sticky Toffee Pudding Recipe Options

Hot, warm, cool or cold this dessert is almost too delicious for words. My favorite is warm, right out of the oven and that will likely be your favorite too! Hopefully you can take a moment to let me know in the comments below how you like this dessert best!

With or without ice cream or whipping cream this dessert is divine. This choice is up to you and I hope you take the opportunity to try this amazing dessert both ways, with and without it!

I also want to suggest that you try adding a little rum or brandy to your toffee sauce and try it. Tasting is the key here. Make your toffee sauce and add a little rum or brandy until you get to a taste that you desire. You don’t need to add much and the flavor is terrific!

Another great addition is to add pecans or walnuts or toasted chopped pecans or walnuts to your toffee sauce. Absolutely delicious and definitely worth a try too!

So many options, so little time! 😉

Origin of Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake

First, I think it is important to explain the brief history of Sticky Toffee Pudding as a classic English dessert consisting of a very moist sponge cake, covered in a toffee sauce and often served with whipped or ice cream.

There is another popular variation using dates, known as a sticky date pudding, in Australia and New Zealand, and is considered a modern take on the British original.

Francis Coulson and Robert Lee developed and served sticky toffee pudding at his Sharrow Bay Country House Hotel in the Lake District, north west England, in the 1970s.

A food critic claimed that Coulson told him he got the recipe from a Patricia Martin of Claughton in Lancashire, England. Martin had published the recipe in a compilation, The Good Food Guide Dinner Party Book, and first served the dish at her country hotel.

Coulson’s recipe only differs from Martin’s in the sauce. Her son later told the food critic that she had originally got the recipe from two Canadian air force officers who had stayed at her hotel during the Second World War.

According to the critic, this Canadian origin makes sense, as the pudding uses a batter more similar to that of a North American muffin, rather than an English sponge cake.

So there you have it. For more detailed information on the history of Sticky Toffee Pudding you can have a look here.

Ingredients in Best Sticky Toffee Pudding Ever

Sticky Toffee Pudding Bites

flour

baking powder

baking soda

pitted dates

boiling water

butter

sugar

egg

vanilla

Toffee Sauce

heavy or whipping cream

butter

brown sugar

brandy or rum (optional)

nuts (pecans or walnuts), if desired

For Serving

whipped cream

ice cream

How to make the Best Sticky Toffee Pudding Ever

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare a 6 hole muffin pan with butter or a round or square baking dish. Set aside.

Sift the flour and baking powder onto a sheet of parchment paper. Set aside.

Chop the dates fine.

Place in a small bowl and add the boiling water and baking soda. Set aside.

In a bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the egg and vanilla.

Beat until well blended.

Gradually beat in the flour mixture.

Add the date mixture to the batter and fold in until blended with a rubber spatula.

Pour into your prepared pan or baking dish.

Bake until pudding is set and firm on top, about 20 minutes for the bites and about 35 minutes for the cake.

Remove from oven and place on to a wire rack.

While the pudding is baking you have to make the toffee sauce.

Combine the butter, heavy cream and brown sugar in a medium sized saucepan.

Heat until boiling. Stir constantly.

Boil gently over medium low heat until mixture is thickened, about 8 minutes.

Preheat your oven to broil.

Spoon about 1/3 cup of the sauce over top of the pudding.

Spread out as evenly as possible on top.

Place pudding under the broiler until the topping is bubbly, about 1 minute.

Serve immediately into dessert bowls.

Drizzle with toffee sauce and top with a spoonful of ice cream or whipped cream if desired.

Enjoy!

Store any totally cooled off leftover muffins (cake) or toffee sauce covered separately, in an airtight container in your fridge for up to 4 days.

Can you freeze the Best Sticky Toffee Pudding?

You bet you can! It is so easy to freeze these individual portioned “muffins”, wrapped individually in plastic wrap or covering the entire cake, then aluminum foil, and into an airtight container. Just make the toffee sauce on the day you plan on serving them or freeze sauce separately.

Make sure your muffins or cake is totally cooled off before refrigerating or freezing.

You can leave the muffins or cake in your freezer for 2 to 3 months.

Frankly you can never have too much toffee sauce on anything and frequently I will make a double batch as some people will use a lot more than others.

Be sure to allow frozen muffins or cake to defrost totally before warming in oven before serving. Prepare or warm sauce in saucepan before pouring on top of muffins or cake and broiling for a moment or two or toffee is nice and bubbly.

I don’t recommend freezing them once they have had the toffee sauce baked into them even though I have done it and it did work. I wrapped each muffin in parchment to attempt to reduce the stickiness I figured might be a problem when defrosting and I was correct.

They still tasted great but were a total mess and I would not do it again that way.

Can you make Sticky Toffee Pudding Ahead of Time?

You can make the sticky toffee pudding up to 1 day in advance and store it in your fridge until about an hour before you need it.

Allow cake or muffins to rest on your counter to reach room temperature, preheat your oven to 350 and reheat for 5-10 minutes for muffins or 15 to 20 minutes for a cake or until either is heated through.

At the same time your cake is warming, warm up your sauce, pour some on top of your cake or muffins, and then broil, until toffee is bubbly, for a minute or two before serving.

Whenever possible I urge you to try and make this sticky toffee cake on the day you want to serve it, this is a bucket list sort of thing. 😍

Honestly, what I do is make a couple batches of muffins and freeze them until needed, sometimes with the sauce already made in a separate container and sometimes not. Frequently I will make the sauce on the day I am serving this fabulous dessert.

Then all I have to do is pour a little sauce on top of my muffins or cake, broil for a minute or two and serve.

Toffee Cake

I usually bake this toffee cake in my muffin pan in an attempt to try and help me control myself with this dessert. It is so hard to stop at just one portion. Yes, this sticky toffee pudding cake is that good.

I love having portion controlled servings even though now I wonder sometimes whether I shouldn’t just make an entire cake and just grab a fork! 😉

Originally my intention was to only have the one “muffin” but as expected I have not been able to stop at just one yet. You likely won’t be able to either.

Feel free to use your favorite pan or mold and remember that it needs to be on the smaller side and a 9×13 inch pan will not work. It is way too big.

Regardless of which pan you choose just watch your toffee cake while baking and remove it from your oven as soon as the center is set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Better a little under done than over with this wonderful dessert!

Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake

This sticky toffee pudding or toffee cake is so flavorful, supermoist, date filled cake with an amazing homemade toffee sauce, covered in whipped or ice cream. You have to just try it. I believe you will make it a part of your regular dessert rotation!

Toffee Pudding

This easy sticky toffee pudding recipe can be just that, easy. The soft, moist, sweet cake, totally covered in the buttery, rich, sticky toffee sauce. Total comfort food at its finest.

You can poke some holes in your toffee pudding, muffins or cake right before adding your toffee sauce to the top of it so more of your toffee sauce totally soaks into your warm, doolworthy cake.

Sticky Toffee Pudding Options

Here are some last minute suggestions to do to your sticky toffee pudding to switch things up because change can be a great thing!

double up your sauce so your muffin or cake is drowning in sauce, the more the better, really

poke holes in your muffins or cake so that when you pour your toffee sauce on top lots will soak in to your muffin or cake

Welcome!

We are the kitchen divas: Karin and my partner in life Ken.
We have been attached at the heart and hip since the first day we met, and we love to create new dishes to keep things interesting. Variety is definitely the spice of life!